Volunteers helping the victims of the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah are finding it extremely difficult to reach affected villages and towns due to indiscriminate bombing. According to volunteers, the Israeli army has been shelling their routes, hitting civilians, humanitarian aid workers and volunteers. Such life-threatening situations can easily dampen spirits and discourage anyone. But volunteers on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border are committed – to the extent of endangering their lives – in providing emergency relief and evacuation support to the displaced and injured.

This photo gallery documents the invaluable humanitarian assistance provided by these courageous volunteers, most of them local people - and in some cases refugees and victims themselves.

Lebanese Red Cross rescuers carried the body of a man who was killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted the bridge of Halat, which links Beirut to northern Lebanon, on Friday, August 4. (Photo: Hussein Malla/Associated Press)